Refrigerator door lock



Dec.- 15, 1959 H. n. SQUIRE REFRIGERATOR nooa LOCK Filed Feb; ,7. 1957 he a INVENTOR.

BY U. W

l/Af nrranvey United States P tfif 2,916,516. 1 REFRIGERATOR noon men Herbert D." Squire; (lalesburg, IIL, assignor to Midwest Manufacturing Corporation, Galesburg, Ill. la inates February 7, ESL-Sensible. 638313 4 Claims. (c1, 70- 149) This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to improvements in locks for locking the refrigerator. doors.

Although heretofore-it has been proposed to provide locks for refrigerator doors, these were usually specially constructed in order to effect the desired results Furthermore, such locks frequently madeit impossible to open the door when the door was locked, which-condition is undesirable where safety means is provided inside the door for permitting the door to be opened from inside the refrigerator. 7 1

By the present invention I have provided alocking meansfor a refrigeratordoor which can be used inconjunction withthew standard. latching means, no change being necessary thereto; Thus, a single door latch may be provided for various types of doors: or the lock can be installed on existing doors without changing the latch.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is-a vertical elevationalview of a fragment of a door latch and the lockingmeans, the front door panel and support forthe door handle being shown in section;

Fig. 2' isa fragmentary section on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction-of the arrows and'showing, an alternate position of the parts by dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is aninside elevational view of the latch per se as shown in Fig. l; p

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the latch locking link; and

Fig. 5 is a'view similar to Fig. l'of the upper portion of the apparatus'illustrating the same in lockedpositions'.

Briefly, the invention includes a latch mechanism which is provided with a latch release member, the latch release member being connected to a movable link carried by a handle secured to the door, a key operated cam being provided for moving the link to a position where it isineffective to open the door. v I p More particularly the latch may be of the construction shown in my copending application S'erial No. 619,517, filed October 31, 1956. It includes a'bolt (Fig, 3) which cooperates with'a' keeper; not shown, to hold the latch in closed position and a release cam 12 which may be pushed or pulled to release the bolt 10 so that the door may be opened. As explained in the copending application, the latch may be operated by means other than that illustrated herein, this being the preferred form however.

Operating means for the cam is provided in the form ofva rod 14, the lower end of which is provided with a hook 15 (Fig. 1) that engages the member 12. Upward movement of the rod 14 moves the cam 12 which causes the cam surface 16 to release the bolt.

Spaced from the latch, and usually upwardly thereof, the door panel 20 is provided with a housing 21 secured thereto in which a handle 22 is pivotally journalled on a pin 23. The handle 22 is provided with an outward and upwardly extending finger gripping portion 24 while the inner portion of the handle extends inwardly of the front panel at 25. A cup-shaped rubber gasket 26 is provided "ice to seal the opening in the door through which the portion 25 ,of the handle extends 4 The inner end of the handle 25 has secured thereto, by a shoulder screw 30, a link 31. The link 31' is in the form of a generally rectangular plate, being provided with a lower extension 32 having. an offset flange 33 thereon provided withan opening through which the rod 14 extends. Upwardly of the flange 33 the link is provided with an inverted L-shapdopning 35, the upper part of which provides a shoulder 36 and forwardly thereof an opening 37 which extends downwardly, The rod 14 is provided with an offset end 38 which extends through theopening and isheld therein because it is guided by the flange 33. Normally the offset end seats on theseat 36. v a 7 Under these conditions the handle may be moved to the position shown in dashed'1ines,- which movement'i's transmitted by the link 31 from the shoulder 36 to the end. 38 of the rod'1'4 to pull'the cam member upwardly and release the latch. fl v The linkis also piovided'with' an extension 40'which extends toward the'front" door panel andi's provided with a laterally extending flange'41i Mounted on the door below the housing 21 is a lock which includes a barrel 45 and inner and outer locking nuts 46 and 47. The barrel can be of any s'ta'ndar'dtype construction and is provided with an inner member; 48 which may be turned" by a'key 49. The inner rotary member has a generally oval shaped cam 50 secured thereto by a screw 51. As" can'bes't be' seen in Fig. 2 when the key is rotated the cain," which'is eccentrically mounted on the rotary portion148',"moves upwardly to move the flange 41 upwardly and'with it the link"3 1,"as best shownin Fig: 5'. .The link normally rests in the position shown in Fig. 1;'this position may be maintained by gravitational forces. vI have found, however; tha't'a spring 60'hav'ing an end 61 hooked in a hole GZ'inthe link and the other end connected to theframe 63', that supports the latch, assures that the'link', when released, will be in the position shown in'Figi'l under normal conditions.

When the keyis rotatedto'pivottheilink to the position shown in Fig 5,. the end 381ofthe rod 14 is then moved over by the flange 33 and disposedin' alignment with the downwardly extending continuation 37 of the opening35. In this position should the handle be operated, the end 38 of the link slides3freely' in the opening 37 and the operating member li is not moved in'the upward direction and therefore 11 lat ch remains closed. It. wil1 be seen, however,: that there is nothing to hinder the. operation er the latch under these conditions for the release by' a'safe'ty release such as shown in my copendn pp e.t omse aN 6 34 med O er. 1956, now" Patent No. 2,823,940, issued'February' 18, 1958.

It will be apparent therefore that no changes need be made in the latch mechanism and that the only addition necessary is the substitution of the link 31 between the rod 14 and the handle 25 and the addition of the locking cam to the door below the handle. The device is operative, however, when locked to prevent access to the contents of the refrigerator by unauthorized persons.

Having thus described my invention, I am aware that numerous and extensive departures may be made therefrom without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a door lock for a door which carries a door holding latch and a movable operating member spaced from the latch, the improvement which comprises a link pivotally connected to said operating member, a movable rod extending from said link toward the latch and coupled to the latch to operate the same, said link having a slot therein which receives the rod, said slot having a laterally offset portion which defines a shoulder for engagement by the rod which extends transverse to the direcof movement of the rod, a movable key-operated cam on the door engaging said link and defining a pivot for the link when the link is moved by the operating member, and unitary spring means biasing the link against the cam in all positions of the cam and biasing the link cam.

2. In a door lock for a door which carries a door holding latch and a movable operating member spaced offset portion toward the latch, a movable key-operated cam on the door engaging said link and defining a pivot for the link when the link is pivoted by the operating member, and unitary spring means biasing the link into biasing the link toward the latch, said operating member being movable to pivot the link about the cam against the bias of said spring means to pull the rod away from for engagement by the rod and an elongated portion which extends from said offset portion toward the latch, a rotatable key-operated cam on the door presenting a cam surface which engages said link and defines a pivot for the link, and a spring biasing the link into engagement with the cam in all positions of the cam and biasing the link toward the latch, said handle when pivoted in one direction pivoting the link about the cam to pull the rod away from said latch when the rod engages said shoulder on the link, and said cam being rotatable to pivot the link about its pivotal connection to the handle to move said shoulder laterally away from the rod and position said elongated portion of its slot receiving the rod so that the rod remains stationary upon pivoting of the handle in said one direction to pivot the link about the cam in this position of the cam.

4. In a door lock for a door which carries a door holding latch and a handle pivoted on the door above the latch and extending into the door, the improvement which comprises a link pivotally connected at its upper end to the inner end of the handle, a rod extending down from said link toward the latch and coupled at its lower end to the latch to operate the same, said link having an inverted L-shaped slot therein spaced below its pivotal having a transversely extending upper end which is received in said slot, a rotatable key-operated cam on the door having a peripheral cam surface which engages beneath the link forward of said vertical portion of the slot and defines a pivotal support for the link, and a tension spring exerting a downward pull on the link between the latters pivotal connection to the inner end of the handle and said cam surface to maintain the link engaged againstsaid cam surface in all positions of the cam, said handle when the upper end of the rod engages said shoulder being pivotable in one direction against the pull of said spring to pivot the link about the cam to pull the rod up away from the latch, and said cam when the upper end of the rod and position said vertical portion of the slot receiving the upper end of the rod so that the rod remains stationary upon pivoting of the handle in said one direction to pivot the link about the cam in this position to which the cam has been turned.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Smith Feb. 19, 1957 

